Cooking with Kids. Low Dairy Cream of Mushroom Soup

 

I love to have company in the kitchen. Today, I'm watching my nephew, for the afternoon. I have a busy week planned with my kids, so I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to get some food prep done for the week ahead.  What a helper my little nephew is!!  Only 3 years old and a total busy body!  Today we prepped Cream of Mushroom Soup for my lunches and baked potatoes for another family recipe. 

 

My nephew had no interest in consuming my soup but he was happy to help out. Let's face it, the kitchen is fun! Experimenting with cooking teaches kids so many valuable lessons. Cooking is a life skill; kids learn about different ingredients, health benefits, become more adventurous with food and they create quality memories with their parents, their grandparents, or in this case, their Aunt Mel. 

Years ago, I purchased this egg slicer from Pampered Chef. I don't think I have ever used it for eggs. Mushrooms, strawberries but never eggs. It's perfect for kid cooking. It slices soft fruits or veggies with a series of metal wires. My nephew loved quickly slicing mushrooms with his impressive physical strength. I roughly chopped the sliced mushrooms and prepped the shallot and garlic while he gabbed and prepped.  

I'm lactose intolerant. Butter has never been an issue for me, but milk and cream are absolutely unwelcome in my digestive tract. As a result, I have developed this "compromise of a recipe" so I can continue to enjoy one of my favourites....Cream of Mushroom Soup. 

Low Dairy Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 pack of Cremini Mushrooms, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 Shallot, finely chopped

1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup of flour 

2 cups of mushroom broth

1 cup of coconut milk 

1 tbsp of herbs de provence 

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt a 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat. Once melted; add mushrooms, shallot and garlic to the pan.  Add seasoning to the mushrooms. Sauté until the mushrooms are nicely browned. Once browned, add 1/4 cup of flour to the mix. A paste, or a roux will form. Add coconut milk a 1/2 cup at a time.  Evenly mixing the roux in with the liquid, after each addition. After the coconut milk has been added; do the same with the mushroom broth; 1/2 cup at a time. 

 

Does this look like a kid that isn't enjoying himself? He even tried the soup. Which he didn't like...then later told me it was kind of good. Regardless, we had a fun afternoon. My nephew and I made some memories and some soup. 

 

Now to clean the kitchen!  Kid help is fun, but even the floors needed to be washed down after the soup! Totally worth the chaos. We had a great afternoon. 

 

If you have any questions, concerns or you just liked this Big Idea, feel free to comment below.  Thanks for reading!